1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an audio and/or video electronic apparatus, such as, a television receiver, a cable converter, video tape recorder, or video or audio disc player and more particularly is directed to improvements in such audio and/or video electronic apparatus which may be controlled remotely, as by a separate remote control transmitter or commander.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known to provide audio and/or video electronic apparatus, such as, television receivers and video tape recorders, with respective remote control transmitters or commanders which are separate or apart from the actual apparatus and can be manipulated by the user for emitting infrared or other signals by which the respective television receiver or video tape recorder may have its operations remotely controlled. In general, the various manufacturers of the mentioned electronic apparatus employ different remote control codes for remotely controlling the operations thereof. Thus, although some remotely controlled television receivers have been recently provided with a remote control transmitter or commander capable of also functioning to remotely control an associated video tape recorder, the desired use of a single remote control transmitter for remotely controlling a television receiver and a video tape recorder is possible only if both the television receiver and the video tape recorder have been produced by the same manufacturer or are otherwise adopted to be controlled by the remote control codes adopted by the manufacturer of the remote control transmitter or commander. It will be appreciated that, if a television receiver and a video tape recorder intended to be remotely controlled are either produced by different manufacturers or are not adopted to be controlled by a common set of remote control codes, then the user is confronted with the troublesome prospect of remotely controlling the television receiver and the video tape recorder by means of respective different remote control transmitters or commanders.
Even in those cases where a television receiver and a video tape recorder are produced by the same manufacturer and provided with a single remote control transmitter for remotely controlling the operations of both the television receiver and the video tape recorder, multiple controlling operations are required in some instances. For example, if the television receiver is initially conditioned for displaying a broadcast television picture while the video tape recorder is initially conditioned for recording the broadcast signal, the user has to effect remote control of the television receiver for change-over of the input thereto from the antenna terminal to the terminal connected to the output of the video tape recorder, and remote control of the user further has to separately effect the video tape recorder for change-over from its recording mode to its playback or reproducing mode.
It has further been proposed, for example, as disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,887, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,848, to provide a reconfigurable remote control transmitter having the ability to learn, store and repeat the remote control codes from other remote control transmitters. Thus, in the case where a television receiver and a video tape recorder are produced by different manufacturers and provided with respective or separate remote control transmitters which do not employ a common set of remote control codes, the reconfigurable remote control transmitter is adapted, in its learning or programming mode, to receive control signals from the remote control transmitter for the television receiver, and to store the corresponding remote control codes, and then to receive control signals from the remote control transmitter for the video tape recorder and to store the corresponding remote control codes. After the learning and storing operations have been completed, the reconfigurable remote control transmitter is ready for use in effecting remote control of the operations of television receiver and/or video tape recorder. It will be appreciated that, in order to function in the above indicated manner, the reconfigurable remote control transmitter according to the prior art has to include an infrared or other light receiver for receiving the control signals from the remote control transmitters or commanders intended for use with the television receiver and the video tape recorder, respectively. Such infrared or other light receiver included in the reconfigurable remote control transmitter undesirably increases the size and the power consumption thereof which is clearly undesirable in a remote control transmitter intended to be hand-held. Moreover, when using the reconfigurable remote control transmitter according to the prior art, individual or separate actuations thereof are required for controlling operations of the television receiver and of the video tape recorder, respectively. In other words, operations of the television receiver and of the video tape recorder cannot be simultaneously controlled through a single actuation of the reconfigurable remote control transmitter.